When I Write, I Listen to This Song…

Written by Brendan O’Meara

Whether I’m writing a long feature or putting together show notes for a podcast with Eva Holland, Glenn Stout, Maggie Messitt, or John Scheinman, I tend to listen to a single song on repeat. Why? It puts me into a sort of meditative state. After a while I sorta feel like I’m floating.

That’s how I like to feel when I’m in the groove. I need a song that disappears after a while, but when I want to focus on it it conjures feelings. So, here’s the song: “On Thin Ice,” composed by Hans Zimmer off The Dark Knight Rises soundtrack. It’s ethereal, it’s brooding, it’s moody, it implies heavy stakes, it’s conflicted, it’s beautiful.

Give one song a try on a constant loop.

Episode No. 15: Eva Holland on the Nature of her Hustle, Being Super Analog, and liking Faramir

Eva Holland
Eva Holland (Photo credit: GBP Creative)

Written by Brendan O’Meara

“It’s been a long process at feeling at all stable.” —Eva Holland

“I don’t know how you keep going if you don’t think your work is good. you have to believe that you’re good.” —Eva Holland

Here were, yet again, with another episode of #CNF, this time with Eva Holland. Eva is a rising star and if you have a chance to buy stock in Holland, now’s the time.

Why read more of my guff when you can read hers? Here’s a list of some her work:

Unclimbable
Hellbent, But Not Broken
Why We Play
No Sleep Till Fairbanks

There’s a good primer.

Writers mentioned

Matt Power
Ian Frazier
David Grann

Books Mentioned

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
The Devil and Sherlock Holmes by David Grann
The Lost City of Z by David Grann
Gone to New York by Ian Frazier
The Big Year by Mark Obmascik
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Thanks for listening. If you get a chance, please subscribe to the podcast and subscribe to my website. No spam, just good, good stuff.

A Marc Maron Quote I’m Pondering…

Written by Brendan O’Meara

Quick post here about this great quote that hits home. Comedian and podcast host Marc Maron said this in a Washington Post story:

You people can do anything if you concentrate and you focus your creative abilities, there is no limit to what you can achieve in this life. The only thing that can stop you is you. You know that voice inside of you that says, ‘I can’t do it.’ Don’t let that little f–k win.

Hope you dig that one. I know I did.

 

#CNF: Take Us to the Bridge!

Transcribe Face.

A photo posted by Brendan O’Meara (@brendanomeara) on

Written by Brendan O’Meara

Soooo…Here’s the latest quasi-episode of the #CNF Podcast. Drop the embed…

Okay, now that I’ve done that, be sure stay tuned, subscribe to the podcast, subscribe to the email newsletter so you can see super awesome Transcribe Face (see above) pics.

Listen to the little mini-sode, stay tuned for more, but also, go listen to Glenn Stout, Carrie Hagen, Maggie Messitt, and many, many (sort of) more.

As always…you da bomb. As always Part II, thanks for listening

 

Episode No. 14—Glenn Stout on Combining the Things You Love, Effort, and the Poem That ‘Knocked Him on his Ass’

View on Zencastr

Written by Brendan O’Meara

“Nothing about doing this makes any logical sense. It doesn’t. It didn’t then. It doesn’t now.”—Glenn Stout

“You can only control one thing: And that’s your effort. There’s one thing you can control. You can’t control anything else…anything else.”—Glenn Stout

Glenn Stout is sort of a demi-god among writers because of his ability to coach the best of them. He’s also a GREAT writer and we delve into how he got his start, reading poetry in a baseball uniform outside Fenway Park while taking swigs from a bottle of bloody Marys.

As always, thanks for listening.